A comparison of plasma and thermal effects upon supersonic flow past aerodynamic bodies

The task of controlled variation of parameters of supersonic flow past a semicylindrical aerodynamic body is considered. The action of gas-discharge plasma on the flow by means of discharge-induced increase in the degree of nonequilibrium in the oncoming gas has been experimentally studied. For the flow parameters used in the experiment, the numerical simulation has been conducted for the thermal action of plasma upon the shock layer of a homogeneously heated region with the gas temperature equal to the electron temperature determined in the experiment. Comparison of the experimental and calculated data leads to the conclusion that the new mechanism based on increase in the degree of gas nonequilibrium in the source of energy supply can be used for controlling supersonic flows past aerodynamic bodies.